User:Jasminethetender/builds/ranger/pveonly

Enchanted Forge Runner

This build uses Ranger stances to maintain high average speed and Dervish enchantments for support to run to various places, particularly from Beacon's Perch to Droknar's Forge.

Attributes and Skills

Ranger / Dervish	Attribute Rank
Expertise	12 + 1 + 1
Earth Prayers	11
Wilderness Survival	5
Wind Prayers	4

Dodge

Zojun's Haste

Storm Chaser

Pious Restoration

Fleeting Stability

Vital Boon

Mystic Regeneration

Vow of Silence

Equipment

Armor

• Full Sentry's Insignia (+10 armor while in stance)

Runes

• Rune of Vigor
• 2 Attunement runes (+2 Energy x 2 = +4 Energy)
• Rune of Restoration

Note: Against getting Crippled a Rune of Restoration is highly recommended for surviving traps. It shortens Crippled and Bleeding by 20% which is considerable.

Weapons

• Crafted or collector's staff (20% chance of half spell recharge) with +5 energy staff head and any enchantment lengthening mod

Usage

General

• Use Dodge, Zojun's Haste, and Storm Chaser for running
• Use Fleeting Stability to run past enemies with knockdown (e.g. Frost Wurm, Siege Ice Golem, Tundra Giant, Azure Shadow)
• Use Vow of Silence (6 seconds with any enchantment lengthening mod) to pass through monsters with snares (Ice Imp, Siege Ice Golem, Stone Summit Heretic)

Very important: Timing is very important here. Make sure Vow of Silence lands before the snare hexes do! If you don't, Vow of Silence will prevent you from removing the hexes because you can't cast spells!

Lornar's Pass

Wurm Tunnel

• Cast Fleeting Stability before entering the Wurm spawning zones. Avoid getting knocked down while you cast it.
• Recast Fleeting Stability shortly before entering the tunnel and cover it with two other enchantments. Alternatively, you can cast Vow of Silence and Mystic Regeneration as non-strippable cover spell here.

Siege Ice Golem Spots

• Recast Fleeting Stability if time permits.
• Just after entering the casting range of the Ice Golems, cast Vow of Silence to give you 6 seconds of snare-hex-free running.
• Stay away from Pinesouls at all costs. One Barbed Trap will be fatal to you.

Note: In case of getting crippled, try to uphold Fleeting Stability, Mystic Regeneration, and Vow of Silence. Do not aggro any further group, and tank out the damage. Do not forget to uphold your stances as well, as they add extra protection, and a good chance of avoiding attacks.

After the Troll tunnel

• Cast Fleeting Stability at the curve after the bridge. Keep away from Grawl Crones as much as possible to avoid them stripping your Fleeting Stability with Chilblains.

Counters

• Lack of condition removal.
  • With a Rune of Restoration Crippled and Bleeding can be reduced to tankable status, though.

Variants

Dodge

Zojun's Haste

Storm's Embrace

Mystic Regeneration

Fleeting Stability

Serpent's Quickness

Vow of Silence

Quickening Zephyr

External Links

• Video of this run (download, good quality) (Filefront)
• Video of this run (streaming, low quality) (Google video)

FoW Forest Farmer

This is a Ranger/Mesmer build designed to run to, and then farm the monsters in Forest of the Wailing Lord in the Fissure of Woe.

Attributes and skills

Ranger / Mesmer	Attribute Rank
Expertise	8 + 1
Wilderness Survival	12 + 1 + 1
Marksmanship	8 + 1
Inspiration Magic	7

Poison Arrow

Kindle Arrows

Optional

Savage Shot

Storm Chaser

Troll Unguent

Mantra of Lightning

Physical Resistance

Optional slot variations:

• Dodge Used as a secondary running skill.
• Dual Shot/Forked Arrow Used to kill faster.
• Ether Feast Used if you are having trouble taking down the Armored Cave Spiders.
• Favorable Winds This will increase damage and help your arrows move faster
• Distracting Shot Used to relieve pressure from the Spider's Apply Poison and Healing Spring as well as disable the Spirit Woods' Troll Unguent for an extra 20 seconds.

Equipment

• One or more of the following armor
  • Studded Leather Armor Reduced damage from Spirit Shepherd.
  • Druid's Armor Extra energy.
  • Explorer's Armor Extra health.
• Longbow/Flatbow.
• Shortbow for convenience.
• Recommended. Drago's Flatbow or something equivalent.
• Recommended. Bow from Blankets for the Settlers quest, modified with a Poisonous Bowstring and Bow Grip of Defense which is commonly used when farming the forest, do not use this with Spirit Shepherds as it has the properties of a hornbow and does not have enough range.

Guide

Running To The Forest

In order to get to the forest in Fissure of Woe, you'll need to do a couple things. First off, when you first enter FoW, back up to the wall. This will (almost) ensure that you don't aggro the Shadow Army and get Rastigan the Eternal killed, thus kicking you back to your port of entry. Now, you'll need to run to the right, staying along the back wall. You will more than likely aggro the shadow army closest to you on the right - make sure to cast Storm Chaser (or Dodge if you brought it). This will help you get past them and if you keep going along the wall, you will just barely miss aggro'ing another group of 3 from the shadow army. After this you'll need to leave the wall and run to the left, behind the 3 shadows and towards what looks like an open spot. Be careful as many patrols are close by, and it is advised not to aggro them.

After you have run a little ways, you will be on a plateau in between 2 valleys. Stay on the plateau all the way until it ends. Near the end, a Shadow Beast will appear. This is a good time to hit Dodge/Storm Chaser because this Shadow Beast and other nearby patrols will pursue you longer then you may expect if you don't get out of aggro range quickly. Continue running straight until you hit a large cliff wall. Stop here (as long as no monsters are following you) and heal. After you get here, turn right and run along the wall until it bears off to the left. There is a little straight here that you will want to take. You will most likely aggro another group here, but hitting a running skill should cause them to lose interest quickly. Run along the wall again until it juts out to the right. Rest here again, letting your running skill recharge as well. Now comes the tricky part. The 3 shadows up ahead aren't as big a deal as the skeletons at the bottom of the hill to your right. If these two groups are far apart, you may be able to run through the shadows and by keeping left, reach a very tiny ledge that will allow you to rest before taking on the skeletons. If not, you will need to try and aggro the skeletons into the shadows, as they will fight each other, letting you get away. To do this, run towards the skeletons at normal speed. Shoot one of them with an arrow, in order to aggro them, then draw them up the hill, running with your run skill activated. This is crucial because if you stay within range of the spell caster in their group, you could be hit with Deep Freeze, and not being able to move in this part of the run equals a long walk off a short pier. Once they start fighting or you have run around the skeletons, stay left, hugging the wall at the bottom of the hill. Here you can rest again, letting everything recharge and waiting for a patrol of skeletons to separate from the larger group ahead of you. You can either try and stay on the wall, sneaking past the larger group; or you can wait for the patrol to leave, and run around the skeletons. It really depends on how they spawn. Either way, once you are past that group, you are effectively in the forest.

Farming The Forest

Now that you are in the forest, you will see a group of 3 Spirit Shepherds and nearby, 2 Spirit Woods. Use Favorable Winds if you brought it, hit Mantra of Lightning, Kindle Arrows, swap to your Longbow/Flatbow. Target the nearest Spirit Shepherds and use Poison Arrow, if they start to cast any spells, turn around, run and lose them. Do not let them come close, as they will use lightning spells and inflict high damage and slow you down. You will also be required to be on the same height level otherwise you will be to far away to fire and forced to move inside their range to hit you with spells or you are to high and the Spirit Shepherds will move closer to get into range. It is recommended to use Poison Arrow on all of the Spirit Shepherds to do as much damage per second and quicken the battle as well as trigger the Edge of Extinction effect which the Spirit Woods put down. Keep Mantra of Lightning and Kindle Arrows up at all times.

Continue forward and 3 Rock Borer Worms will pop up to your right and another 1-3 Worms will pop up a little further on the left side. Use Mantra of Lightning, Kindle Arrows and Poison Arrow. Poison the first 3 Rock Borer Worms, when they reach 85% of health they will activate Lightning Reflexes which lasts around 5 seconds.

Move onto the Spirit Woods. Hit Physical Resistance and Kindle Arrows and shoot one of them with Poison Arrow, when their health reaches 75% they will begin to use Troll Unguent, use savage shot and interrupt this, now use your Troll Unguent and continue to attack, after 10 seconds the Spirit Wood will try to use Troll Unguent, again interrupt this.

If you wait around where the Spirit Woods died, a patrol of 3 Spirit Shepherds and a Spirit Wood will move close to this area. Put Physical Resistance on as the Spirit Wood will do more damage over time and quicky poison all the Spirit Shepherds, kill them and finish off the Spirit Wood. Keep Troll Unguent on from the beginning.

Slowly move up the road until you see a split in the road just before this area 3 Armored Cave Spiders will appear. These are considered to be the most difficult monsters to kill for this run and require a bit of timing and practice to kill. Run back out of the spiders aggro range, use Physical Resistance, Kindle Arrows and Poison Arrow. Use Troll Unguent before you initiate only one of the spiders. While it is possible to take on more then one, it decreases your chance of successfully completing the run. If you can safely get within Shortbow range, proceed as this will increase your chance to interrupt the spiders Apply Poison and do more damage over time. Armored Cave Spiders use Healing Spring which is an easily interruptible trap, using a normal bow attack will interrupt this, if you think you may miss use a Savage Shot. If you see the Armored Cave Spider use Healing Spring while you are activating Troll Unguent cancel this and quickly shoot a Savage Shot. If a Healing Spring gets activated by a spider, pull out a Longbow and step backwards so that it follows out of the Healing Spring. The spider will interrupt your healing skill (Troll Unguent) with Savage Shot, if your health drops below 20%.

After you have eliminated the spiders, go left and there will be 2 groups of 3 Shepherds walking as one group. Note there is a small ledge you walk up into the area where they walk and will decrease your Longbow range. Do not begin the battle if they are walking towards you, as they will have walked close enough to cast spells because of the flight time it takes for the arrow to reach the Shepherd. If you find getting the height correct hard, when they are furthest away from you, run past where they walk and move behind a rock cliff on the far side as this area is relatively the same height as the area where the Shepherds walk on.

Proceed along the path after killing the group and trigger a group of 3 Rock Borer Worms to pop up, after killing these move up the cliff and kill the Spirit Woods that you have passed.

At this point you have two options, pass the group of Skeletons standing on the edge of the bridge or go back out the way you came and proceed around the back way. The later being the safer options but longer. Refer to the Fissure of Woe page for a map.

Past Skeletal Bridge Method
Aim across to the other hill from the current hill were you killed the recent Spirit Woods and kill all the reachable Spirit Wood and Spirit Shepherds. You will see a bridge with Skeletons standing on it. Do not go over the bridge. Activate your running skill, and run through them around the ledge to the other side of the small hill that you just killed the Shepherds on. Do it quickly else they will use Wild Blow and end the stance. Now that you've cleared the hill you don't need to fear aggro'ing the Spirit Mobs. Once you lose them a Spider will pop right next to the river to your left. Swap to your Shortbow and kill him. Beyond you there should be a group of Spirit Shepherds and Spirit Woods combined, one group of Woods on the hill, and 1-2 groups of Shepherds only. Hug the ledge to your right and shoot the Shepherds with your Longbow. Kill them and go up the hill to your right. Kill the other group of Shepherds. Now go back for the combined group of Shepherds and Woods. Use Physical Resistance as it will balance the damage. Kill them all but watch out as where they stood a group of 2 Spiders will pop. Don't attack them, kill the Woods on the hill first, then you have place to run away to heal and try to separate them. Kill them, and go with the road.

Another Spider will probably pop up, but he won't be a problem for you. You'll see a group of Spirit Woods and Spirit Shepherds. They will be far enough from each other so you won't have a problem killing the Woods. After you kill them and go forward a group of Rock Borer Worms will pop as well as 2 Spiders. The Worms won't be a problem, but the Spiders are hard to separate. You might want to separate them or to attack them together. Your choice. When you kill them and the Worms, go to the Shepherds group and kill them too.

Back Door Method
Run back around and move north to the northern entrance, dodge all the skeletal groups. There are 2 groups of popup skeletal rangers, Skeletal Impaler, along the shortest path but may be bypassed by activating a running skill and losing them. Kill the first 3 Spirit Shepherds, again attacking them as they walk away. Continue forward after killing them and trigger the 3 popups of Rock Borer Worms. You are now able to continue as best suits you in this area, using the above methods to kill the enemies. In this area you will find further popups of Rock Borer Worms and Armored Cave Spiders, stay alert, scan areas and prepare to run.

Variants

• Replace Savage Shot with Distracting Shot for a longer interrupt.
• Replace Poison Arrow with Burning Arrow, and Kindle Arrows with Apply Poison, Use either a Fiery bowstring or bring Conflagration to convert damage into fire.

Ranger Basic Runner

This is a basic ranger running build, capable of completing all runs from Ascalon to the Crystal Desert, some of the Southern Shiverpeaks runs, most runs in Cantha, and even with a Bold Forge Runner|variant for the Droknar's Forge run. The build is also suited for mapping if you are going for the Grand Master Cartographer title.

Attributes and Skills

Ranger / Monk	Attribute Rank
Expertise	12 + 1 + 1
Healing Prayers	12
Protection Prayers	3

Escape

Dodge

Zojun's Haste

Heal Area

Restful Breeze

Mending Touch

Holy Veil

Mending

Equipment

Armor

• Full Druid's Armor set for maximum energy.
• Full Sentry's Armor for extra armor (+10 AL in stance).

Note #1: It is possible to mix Druid's Armor for energy with Sentry's Armor for higher armor. Note that the armor bonus is location specific.

Note #2: If you use Sentry's Armor only, it is advised to polish up your energy pool with weapons as explained below.

Runes

• Rune of Vigor

Weapons

• Any one-handed weapon that increases health, energy and/or lengthens enchantments:

1. Sword with +5 Energy and +30 hp or +20% Longer Enchantments
2. Rajazan's Fervor
3. Totem Axe

• Any shield with either stance and/or health modifications:

1. Emboldened Carapace Shield from Hagnon Warblade [Health +60 (while hexed), Received damage -3 (while hexed)] - for hex passages of specific runs.
2. Grognar's Defender - the Runner's Best Stance Shield Choice.

Note: Of course, you are free to use the collectors' shield versions instead of the Green ones.

• Fires in the East staff with a +5 energy Staff Head (+18 energy), and either a health or an enchantment lengthening mod.

Usage

General

The Running Sequence gives you a constant high speed boost and a high chance to evade missiles, and attacks. Holy Veil against hexes and the healing skills against conditions and degeneration help you survive.

Running Sequence

• Use Dodge, Zojun's Haste and Escape for a constant speed boost.
• Only Dodge and Zojun's Haste boost your speed to 33%, whereas Escape only provides you with 25%.
• Use Escape to avoid mass damage as it provides a 75% chance to avoid attacks. It also protects from knockdown from melee attackers.

Note #1: Dodge and Zojun's Haste only evade missile attacks.

Note #2: Avoid knockdown if possible.

Healing

• Cast Mending when entering a new area.
• Use Restful Breeze before engaging large damage dealing mobs. Remember to activate run skills first.
• Use Heal Area when taking large amounts of damage and when you are in need of instant healing. Be aware of your energy level.

Note: There are enemies which strip enchantments such as Stone Summit Heretics or Avicara Guile. You have to decide then which enchantment (Holy Veil or Mending) you want to use as cover, and which you do not want get stripped right away. Cast the cover enchantment that you want to get stripped last. Pay attention to Chilblains which mostly strips two enchantments.

Variants

General

• Use Storm Chaser to regain energy when running through elemental damage dealing mobs.
• Use Troll Unguent instead of Healing Breeze for lower energy cost. Remember to set points into Wilderness Survival.
• Use Smite Hex instead of Holy Veil.
• Use Smite Hex instead of Purge Conditions or Heal Area for a second hex remover.

Bold Forge Runner

The Bold Forge Runner variant can be used to solo-run Droknar Forge. It is highly reliable and you will notice that it is easier to run Lornar's Pass with, actually. Snake Dance and its Tundra Giants need a bit practice, though. Below are specific Ranger hints for this run:

Note #1: It is advised to use a weapon with 20% longer enchantments for the sake of Healing Breeze.

Note #2: Mend Ailment can replace Purge Conditions for countering two or more Barbed Traps. Crippled will always hit you last.

Worm Tunnel

• Cast Mending, and Holy Veil (in this order). You don't want the Avicaras to strip Mending right away. Holy Veil represents a cover enchantment here (unlike later).
• Use Healing Breeze before and during encountering dangerous situation, such as a run-through.
• Use Zojun's Haste and Dodge to outrun the worm(s).
• Use Escape when expecting mass damage from attacks, especially in melee by groups of Avicaras. It helps you survive grave danger situation by evading most attacks.

Worm Path

• Use Healing Breeze after you got knocked-down by the worm(s) and when he is just outside your aggro bubble. This helps to avoid interruption again. Recast Mending on you between knockdowns, in case it got stripped through Chilblains. Without Mending in coordination with HB you might get into trouble regarding your health.
• Use Escape for running through the groups of Grawls and when you get slowed down by hexes and take attack damage from melee.

Dreadnought's Drift

• Cast Holy Veil, and Mending (in this order). This time Mending is the cover enchantment for Holy Veil due to the high risk of encountering Heretics.
• Lose aggro and regenerate before encountering the Tundra Giants.
• Use Healing Breeze and Escape before running through groups of Giants. Make use of a Stance Shield here.

Note: When HB fades out, and after a Giant Stomp recast it as often as needed. Mending and HB should keep you alive without problems.

Attention: When Stone Summit Heretic(s) and Ice Golem(s) get spawned and you cannot avoid them, immediately run back and rezone. Reasons: 1) Two different slow-down spells (Crippling Anguish & Deep Freeze), 2) covered with different hex-spells 3) accompanied by Gnashers & companions 4) with a Tundra Giant group to be passed at full health with Healing Breeze, and fully recharged Escape only. Smite Hex and Holy Veil will not make you survive this - no matter how high your running level is.

Snake Dance

• Try to only aggro one group of Giants at a time.
• Aggro them before running through to make them stomp before your run-through comes.
• Use Healing Breeze as often as possible between stomps. The chances for an interrupt between two stomps are low.

SB Ranger Runner

The variant SB Ranger Runner is optimal for solo-running Copperhammer Mines -> Iron Mines of Moladune and vice versa as ranger. Spell Breaker lasts long enough to overcome the Mesmer spawns at the hardest parts of the run. The success rate with this build is very high.

Note: A weapon with 20% longer Enchantments is a must.

• Activate Holy Veil as Mending coverage, and as additional hex remover when Spell Breaker wears out.
• Follow the main ranger running principles listed above.

Note #1: It is known that bosses will still follow you, especially when running the route in a reversed way. This is the point where Holy Veil is of good use to get rid of the last hex-spell being a slow-downer if a Mesmer boss, or Golem boss got spawned.

Note #2: Mend Ailment can replace Purge Conditions for countering multiple traps. Downside is the longer casting time, and that you cannot clean up from all conditions at a time.

Elona Reach (Mission) Runner

Variant skills could be

• Rebirth for Heal Area if you want to make sure no one dies. (Very Much recommened because Heal Area is 10 energy and almost never needed, and when you do use it you end up with low energy resulting in a death.

This Variant Elona Reach (mission) Runner is a perfected build to solo run the mission easily. With the use of constant running and condition removals it is possible to complete this runnable mission within 10 minutes..

Attributes

• Expertise = 12 + 3 + 1

• Healing Prayers = 12

Equipment

Full Sentry armor is recommended for +10 AR(while in stance), Very useful for tanking out hex's and crippling conditions.

Weapon

• A Axe/Sword of Fortitude
• With +5 Energy
• 30 hp

AND

• Crimson Carapace Shield

or a Max Armor shield with equivalent stats.

• -2 received damage (while in stance)
• +45 Health (while in stance)

Runes

• Major vigor / Superior Vigor
• 3 attunement runes
• Superior Expertise
• Minor Expertise

Usage

• Minotaurs can be easily outran at the start of the mission. Head left at the start and follow straight down the hill until you come to a bridge, run under the bridge, maintaining a running stance at all times.

Hug the right wall once you go under the bridge and run around to the Ghostly Hero

Note #1 Make sure your team does not follow you from the start because it is likely they will drag minotaurs to the cutscene, and killing the Ghostly Hero, which will result in the failure of the mission. Make sure you do not aggro any groups to the Ghostly Hero!!

• Once you pass the first cutscene decide which way you will go first.. Either NW or E.

Note #2 Make sure to try and maintain running skills and mending at all times!

Note #3 Make sure before running into mobs to see if the mesmer boss is there, if so cast a pre Holy Veil and Healing Breeze then run in.

Note #4 If you need another 75hp then you can always drop the crystal and gain 75 hp from your wepons, running away then returning at full hp for the cystal, this is very helpful and saves you much of the time.

• Make sure when you reach the vision crystal, look for mesmer boss (for pre Holy Veil, then cast Healing Breeze then run in, pick it up and try to avoid Enchanted Swords, if you become crippled from the Enchanted Swords, use Mending Touch,and run away. Try to maintain your hp above 100 and use Heal Area RARELY when needed (Use healing breeze instead to recover health. Run away from the Enchanted Swords and Elementalists (Arcanists, they spike you with large amounts of dmg) as quickly as possible. Try and use Dodge or Zojun's Haste when picking up the crystal because you run 33% faster instead of 25% faster.

• Try not to aggro any groups that are avoidable, make sure not to aggro groups of enemies up to the Ghostly Hero when returning the crystal.This is rare that they will continue following after you get clearly by the alter/ghost. The ghostly hero must stay alive to suceed.

After some practice this run can be mastered.

Notes

Possible Routes

Listed below are all the possible high-level routes that this build and its variants can be run with:

Prophecies

1. Beacon's Perch -> Camp Rankor -> Droknar's Forge
2. Camp Rankor -> Deldrimor War Camp -> Granite Citadel -> Copperhammer Mines Using henchmen as cannon fodder is important on most parts of this trip.
3. Copperhammer Mines -> Iron Mines of Moladune and reversed.
4. Iron Mines of Moladune -> Marhan's Grotto -> Thunderhead Keep
5. Elona Reach (mission) + bonus

Ettin Solo

This build uses the Elite skill Fevered Dreams and a number of conditions inflicted through your pet to deal damage to multiple Ettins in Nebo Terrace, while preventing them from healing.

Attributes and skills

Ranger / Mesmer	Attribute Rank
Beast Mastery	12 + 1 + 3
Expertise	8 + 1
Illusion Magic	9

Comfort Animal

Poisonous Bite

Feral Lunge

Ancestor's Visage

Fevered Dreams

Optional

Primal Echoes

Charm Animal

For Optional try one of the following:

• Troll Unguent if you're having problems with your own health.
• Symbiosis to give your pet a boost of health while under the effects of Ancestor's Visage.
• Call of Protection to give your pet damage reduction.
• Otyugh's Cry for additional armour (and to gain help from any Lynx in the area).
• Toxicity Recommended for anyone who has access to the skill, cause an extra -2 health degeneration to any who are poisoned and are in range of the spirit.

Equipment

• Druid's Armor for an extra energy bonus.
• Any staff of offhand that provides max energy, Half Illusion Magic Recharge is also useful.
• A Longbow is very useful if you wish to keep out of danger.
• The best Vigor Rune you can afford.
• A Level 20 pet (Hearty is recommended, but any will work).

Usage

Location of Ettins (click to enlarge)

The objective of this build is to inflict bleeding through Feral Lunge and poison through Poisonous Bite to multiple enemies at once using Fevered Dreams. While using Primal Echoes and Ancestor's Visage to prevent the Ettin's from using Healing Signet.

Start from Beetletun and head east. You will encounter a number of Mergoyle's. These are good practice as their main way to deal damage is Mind Wrack and Spirit Shackles, which won't matter to your pet as he has no energy. Dispose of these through normal pet attacks coupled with your staff/wand attacks, or through conditions.

Keep heading east until you encounter two groups of two Tengu each. These may cause you some problems and this is where Troll Unguent comes in handy, although it is not necessary to beat them. (You may also want to switch to armor without any Superior Runes for the HP bonus.) Go for the Wild first, as he will inflict major health degeneration. It's almost impossible to avoid his first Conjure Phantasm, which will give you a -5 health degeneration for some time. Pull out your longbow and fire one shot off at the Wild. This should trigger the pet to run toward him. As soon as he does, take a few steps back so that both of them will go for your pet. They will die pretty easily if you poison them and then just use normal attacks. If your pet is taking major damage use Comfort Animal, which should heal him for about 33% of his health (depending on what type of pet he evolved into).

Next we move on to the Ettins. These are actually surprisingly easy as long as you cast the right spells/skill at the right times. First of all, you'll want to cast Primal Echoes somewhere safe so the Ettins won't destroy it. Then pull out your longbow and fire one shot at the nearest Ettin. When they start running towards you, your pet should run out to them. Take a few steps back to ensure they go for the pet. As soon as the 2 or 3 Ettin's are all focused on your pet, cast Ancestor's Visage on your pet. This will ensure that the Ettin's will not be able to use Healing Signet, as it will cost them 10 energy to do so. Next, cast Fevered Dreams on the Ettin that your pet is attacking. Follow this up with Poisonous Bite and then Feral Lunge. This will give a total health degeneration of -7 (14 health per second) to not only one Ettin, but all of them (thanks to Fevered Dreams). Continue to re-apply Fevered Dreams followed by your conditions, and also Ancestor's Visage to ensure that they don't heal. Use Comfort Animal when your pet's health is low, and, if you brought any skills that increase the armour of your pet, now is the time to use them.

This build can take down a group of 3 Ettins in less than a minute if done correctly, and not only is it effective but its fun! Enjoy.

Counters

There are no real counters to this while farming Ettin's. The only thing to watch out for your pet's health dropping too low. If he dies, you have no protection and low health due to the Sup Runes.

Notes

This build was actually made while I was messing around, it was going to be a novelty build, but then I realized how effective it was.

See also

• Pet aggro model

UW Solo Trapper

This build is designed to farm the Underworld as a solo ranger trapper. The build uses the skill recharge bonus and energy given by the Nature Rituals and Serpent's Quickness to spam as many Dust Traps as much as possible.

Attributes and Skills

Ranger / Mesmer	Attribute Rank
Wilderness Survival	12 + 1 + 3
Expertise	12 + 3
Beast Mastery	3

Energizing Wind

Quickening Zephyr

Serpent's Quickness

Arcane Echo

Echo

Dust Trap

Barbed Trap

Whirling Defense

Equipment

• Full Druid's Armor or equivalent in function
• Two Runes of Attunement
• The best Rune of Vigor you can afford (but at least a major)
• Any staff with 15 or 20 energy bonus with + 7 armor against physical damage
• For extra protection when pulling you could take a replacement armor piece for one of those with a superior rune in it and a staff with +60hp. This will allow you to survive two hits from a Bladed Aatxe.

Usage

This build is for experienced trappers who want more challenge and get all the loot for themselves. It is hard at first but with practice, becomes pretty easy to handle. The idea of the build is to keep the mobs on the Dust Traps for their full activation time. This is difficult as AoE damage causes the enemy mobs to flee.

• First, choose your trapping spot near an angle or any small confined space (e.g. in the Chamber, just under the stairs, close to the walls). You will want the mobs to be blocked by the walls when they try to flee the AoE damages. Once you've got the trapping spot, put down Energizing Wind and Quickening Zephyr just around the corner/angle, not too close to the wall (about the distance of activation of a trap).
• Start Arcane Echo and during its activation use Serpent's Quickness so that you have the stance before the casting of Arcane Echo finishes. Then use Echo, Dust Trap, Echo (copied with Arcane Echo), Dust Trap (copied with Echo), and Dust Trap (copied with Echo copied with Arcane Echo).
• Walk backwards a couple of steps, keeping clear from the wall(always about the distance of activation of a trap) and put down Barbed Trap. As soon as the Dust Traps have recharged, lay them down and keep SQ up (usually wears off at the end of the 5th Dust Trap, so recast) and spam Barbed Trap when possible.
• After the 7th Dust Trap, the spirits will end. Wait a couple of seconds for EW to recharge, put down EW and renew SQ. Then use Echo, Dust Trap, and the echoed Dust Trap. Keep the Barbed Trap that has recharged unused for your own safety.
• Now you can go pull the mobs. Hit Whirling Defense during aggro and run towards the spirit and stay put behind it. Usually Aaxtes will focus on it instead of you. Meanwhile they will take all the damage waves from the 9 Dust Traps as they try to flee through the walls.
• The usage of the build can be summed up with the following sequences (skills numbered from 1 to 8 from left to right):

Laying down the spirits, the 3 Dust Traps and 1 Barbed Trap: 1, 2, 7, 4 + 3, 5, 6, 4, 5, 4 (3 is to be cast during activation time of 4)

Laying down 4 other Dust Traps and 2 Barbed Traps: 7, 6, 5, 4 + 3, 7, 6 (with good timing you can renew SQ when 4 starts)

Laying down a spirit and 2 Dust Traps and Barbed before pulling: 1 + 3, 7, 5, 6, 5

Counters

• The main flaw of the build is lack of self healing. Surviving in emergency situations and during pulling is possible with Whirling Defense, Barbed Trap, and clever movement.
• Whirling Defense will prevent most of the hits from foes. However Aatxes hit hard, so don't try to pull them from too far away or you'll have a greater risk to get hit and the traps set might start to go off on their own.
• When the enemy mob survives the initial traps, run away, put down Barbed Trap, lure the surviving enemies into it, and run far away from them. They should lose aggro.
• When Smites or Coldfire Nights survive, just run away from them until they break aggro.
• Coldfire Nights are the hardest mob to kill with this build. Avoiding them is the best tactic. If you can't, lay down your spirits far behind the trapping spot, and trap in multiple spots. 3 Dust Traps, step back a bit, Barbed Trap, step back, Dust Traps, etc... This is to ensure that when the Coldfires run after you they will activate all the traps on the way. To keep them in the traps, you can hit Whirling Defense and come into aggro distance so that the survivors focus on you and stay in the traps.

Variants

• You could replace Serpent's Quickness with Trapper's Speed. However, it seems that the benefit of SQ is much better as it can also be maintained during the whole trapping process.
• Replacing Whirling Defense with Flame Trap allows for quicker takedowns, and results in health degeneration on the Aatxes. The only drawback is its harder to pull, so use this variant at your own risk.

Notes

• This build is for experienced trappers and is hard to use.
• Once you've got the trick, you can clear out the chamber, take out most of the smites, and come back and clear the mobs in the southern part of the chamber within 1 hour. It usually takes an average 2 minutes per mob. Once you've finished a group, your skills and energy should have fully recharged while moving to the next trapping place.
• This is the most efficient trapping build for farming considering the fact that there are no other players getting drops.
• You can replace Whirling Defense with Tripwire to farm the Stygian Veil.

See also

• General trapping guide

External Links

• Video of the build in action on a group of Aatxes can be found here.
• Video of the build in action on a Terrorweb Dryder here.
• Video of the build in action on Aatxes, Grasping Darknesses, Smite Crawlers, and Coldfire Nights. here
• Picture of a good and safe trapping spot: Image:Trapping spots.jpg
• You can even clear the Forgotten Village: Image:Soloing village.jpg

Bold Forge Runner

This Bold Forge Runner build was especially designed for the Droknar's Forge run with a Ranger. It makes clever use of the Ranger's abilities to recharge skills faster to use Balanced Stance, and "Charge!" twice in a row. The downside is that one has to tank out hexes, and conditions successfully.

Attributes and Skills

Ranger / Warrior	Attribute Rank
Expertise	8 + 1 + 1
Wilderness Survival	10 + 1
Tactics	12

Dodge

Zojun's Haste

Serpent's Quickness

"Shields Up!"

"Charge!"

Balanced Stance

Troll Unguent

Healing Signet

Equipment

Armor

• Full Sentry's Armor for extra armor (+10 AL in stance).
• Full Fur-Lined Armor for the extra +15 AL against cold damage. This helps a lot vs. the ice imps and ice golems, which will usually be the reason you're stuck tanking in the first place. It's also the best option if you're limited to prophecies.

Note: Your armor level (AL) is more important than your energy pool due to hex- and condition-tanking, that is why it is not advised to use the popular Druid's Armor here.

Runes

• Rune of Major or Superior Vigor

Weapons

• Any one-handed weapon that increases health, and/or energy:

1. Sword with +5 Energy and +30 HP

NOTE: There is a cheap +25hp axe that is given as a reward for completing the Scavengers in Old Ascalon quest. It makes a good beginning/budget running weapon since it is free and obtainable early and easily.

• Any shield with either stance and/or health modifications:

1. Grognar's Defender - the Runner's Best Stance Shield Choice.
2. Emboldened Carapace Shield from Hagnon Warblade [Health +60 (while hexed), Received damage -3 (while hexed)] - for hex passages of this runs.
3. Crimson Carapace Shield from Lord Dorn Lendrigen [Health +45 (while in a stance), Received physical damage -2 (while in a stance)]

NOTE: The above shield has identical stats to Grognar's Defender, and can be obtained with greater ease.

• An additional weapon or shield with a -20% crippled mod.

Usage

General

The Running Sequence provides a constant speed boost, whereas the Anti-KD Sequence fully protects from knockdown effects for a long time. Pay attention to hexes, and conditions which can put you in grave danger if not tanked out correctly.

Running Sequence

• Use Dodge, Zojun's Haste and "Charge!" for a constant speed boost.

• Dodge and Zojun's Haste give a 33% speed boost, but "Charge!" only gives a 25% speed boost

Note #1: With Dodge and Zojun's Haste you can evade missile attacks.

Note #2: "Charge!" is the only Warrior running skill that can be used together with Balanced Stance, as it is a shout and not a stance. Remember: Only one stance can be used at a time.

Anti-KD Sequence

The Anti-Knockdown Sequence protects you from knockdowns by Frost Wurms, Tundra Giants, and Siege Ice Golems. Furthermore, it adds protection against damage.

• Activate Serpent's Quickness, "Shields Up!", "Charge!", and Balanced Stance (in this order). You will be able to use "Charge!" twice in one Balanced Stance recharge cycle. Balanced Stance will recharge immediately after that due to the enhanced recharge time that Serpent's Quickness (SQ) gives, but beware that there will be about a 2-3 second gap in coverage before you can reactivate it (assuming 12 tactics). Shields Up is optional, depending on the situation. It's good for going by Tundra Giants and the first wurm area with the Avicara. Use it whenever you know ranged damage is coming your way.

Note: If you run into a situation where you're going to run out of Balanced Stance before you're out of harms way, you can try the following. As soon as the Balanced Stance icon begins blinking, indicating that it's about to end, hit your Troll Unguent. You should be able to get Troll Unguent on just before Balanced Stance expires, thus giving you a little edge on tanking while you wait for it to finish recharging. If you miss this, then you may be unable to activate Troll Unguent because of the knockdowns.

Note: "Shields Up!" is used right away to protect you from extra damage. It is not an essential part of the Anti-Knockdown Sequence, but comes in handy for taking less damage.

Healing

• Try to use Troll Unguent before engaging large damage-dealing mobs. Be aware of the long casting time of 3 seconds.
• Use Healing Signet in safe areas where regeneration is possible.

Handling Hexes

This build has no anti-hex, or anti-condition mechanism. You are forced to tank out the damage and keep on jogging.

• Activate "Shields Up!", and Troll Unguent to counter damage, and/or degeneration.
• Try to avoid ice golems. If there is no way to get past one (or a group of them), use troll unguent before going by and then do Serpent's Quickness + Charge + Shields Up + Balanced Stance. You can also try to use Dodge or Stormchaser to get by them quickly and then do the mentioned combo when the first hex hits you. Sometimes if you're lucky you can get far enough away from them that by the time the first hex lands, they are out of attack range and they may not harass you any more than that. The main danger from the ice golems isn't really them killing you, but the other things that hang out with them killing you while you're slowed. This can either be Avicara and Frost Wurms at the first wurm area, Grawl at the large ice golem/Grawl field, or even trolls if you get that one ice golem that spawns at the second troll cave in Snake Dance. The first wurm area and the grawl field are probably the hardest parts of the entire run for this build if the ice golems spawn/patrol in such a way that you cannot sneak by them.
• Avoid Stone Summit Heretics like the plague. Crippling Anguish + Conjure Phantasm will snare and shred you quite quickly. The only place where this is really survivable is at the very end of Snake Dance when Camp Rankor is in sight. The Heretic that sometimes spawns there is by itself, other than some Blessed Griffons which are (thankfully) hostile towards it. If you get hexed there you actually have a good chance of surviving and getting to Camp Rankor. Sometimes the griffons even attack it before it tries to hex you, in which case you get a smooth end to your run through Snake Dance. Everywhere else Heretics spell almost certain death.

Variants

• Whirling Defense can replace Healing Signet for a better tanking out hexes, and conditions. Be aware that you have no quick-heal then.
• Storm Chaser can replace Zojun's Haste if you do not have Factions.

Chkkr Farmer

This build is used to farm Chkkr Thousand Tail by using Beast Mastery and the Enraged Lunge skill to farm Chkkr's Flatbow.

Attributes and skills

Ranger / Any	Attribute Rank
Beast Mastery	12 + 1 + 3
Expertise	12 + 3

Enraged Lunge

Disrupting Lunge

Poisonous Bite

Feral Lunge

Call of Haste

Run as One

Comfort Animal

Charm Animal

• Poisonous Bite for more DPS.
• Brutal Strike for increased damage.
• Symbiotic Bond just in case your pet is attacked.

Equipment

• Full Druid's Armor with a Tamer's Mask.
• A Totem Axe or Rajazan's Fervor for the extra 5 energy (you could also use a Rotwing Recurve Bow). Any offhand item with at least +9 energy (but make sure it doesn't reduce your energy regeneration.)

Usage

Start from Saint Anjeka's Shrine and head out into Drazach Thicket. You may get the Kurzick Blessing if wanted, but it is not needed. Start running along the right wall, careful not to aggro the Dragon Mosses (these will be there only if you have the "A New Escort" quest), and keep on that wall until you run into the edge of the cliff looking into the small "valley." There will be a group of Mantises inside the "valley" so wait for them to leave before moving on. When the Mantises move, look straight ahead into the group of Dragon Mosses(if you have the quest). You should see and group of Wardens moving forward toward you, so wait for them to leave and quickly sprint down (using Run as One) towards the wall of the large mountain. Be careful, if you venture too far to the right, a group of Oni may spawn. Stay near the wall for your health to regenerate. When your health is full, run around the wall towards Chkkr, once again being careful to avoid the Dragon Mosses (if you have the above quest). Here you will cast both of your pet shouts. Run towards him until he starts to attack you, then slowly retreat behind the wall again so he can't hit you with his arrows. Once you are sure that your pet isn't taking any damage, start your pet attack chain. Use both of your pet attacks, and while they are recharging, use Enraged Lunge. You also may like to use Run as One while using your pet chain just in case only your two pet shouts are recharged (Enraged Lunge counts as its own recharging skill), to get the full damage bonus. With high Expertise this chain can go on for almost forever. Once he gets past about half health, he will start to use Troll Unguent much more often, so make sure you have Disrupting Lunge recharged to disable it (if you choose to bring it). If done correctly, you can kill Chkkr before your Call of Protection regenerates. Pick up all drops and repeat.

Counters

If Chkkr attacks your pet, then keep spamming all of your pet healing skills and pet attacks until the pet dies (hopefully this won't happen). Make sure Chkkr keeps attacking you, and use Comfort Animal to revive your pet. Then restart your attack chain, making sure to use Enraged Lunge while your other attacks are recharging. Note: Make sure to keep staffing/shooting Chkkr. If you keep staffing him he will stay focused on you.

Variants

If you do bring Symbiotic Bond, then I suggest switching Comfort Animal for Troll Unguent and moving all your excess points to Wilderness Survival. This is to heal yourself because your pet is sharing your health.

Notes

Sometimes, some of the other smaller monsters will gang up and attack Chkkr before you get there, and kill him. If this happens, simply re-zone and start again.

See also

• Chkkr Thousand Tail
• Pet aggro model

Solo Desert Trapper

The R/any Solo Desert Trapper can be used to farm slowly but surely in the Crystal Desert. Its main purpose is to gather collectable drops, which can often be traded for decent weapons. Of course, a fair amount of keys, gold, and gold items can be found as well.

Attributes and Skills

Ranger / Any	Attribute Rank
Expertise	12 + 1 + 1
Wilderness Survival	12 + 1
Beast Mastery	3 + 1

Poison Arrow

Serpent's Quickness

Dust Trap

Barbed Trap

Flame Trap

Toxicity

Troll Unguent

Storm Chaser

Equipment

• Druid's Armor.
• A Flatbow or Longbow.
• A Recurve Bow or Composite Bow.
  • Poisonous bow strings work very well.

Usage

See General Guidelines.

General Guidelines

• Use the Flatbow or Longbow to lure your enemies onto the traps and use the Recurve Bow or Composite Bow when firing Poison Arrow.
• Always activate Serpent's Quickness before laying traps. Lay them in this order: Dust Trap, Barbed Trap, Flame Trap. You should be able to lay down two sets of traps just as Serpent's Quickness ends. It's safe to lay a third set afterwards, as well, but any more and you run the risk of letting some traps self-detonate before any enemies reach them.
  • Dust Trap causes Blindness, allowing you to set more traps right under the enemy if needed.
• Lay down a Spirit of Toxicity somewhere in the area but far enough away that it won't get attacked. In times of trouble, you can always run past it and let the enemies kill it instead of attacking you. Make sure Serpent's Quickness is up first; the recharge time is quite long.
• You can out-regen the damage of most but not all monsters with Troll Unguent - it's usually safe to cast it before activating Storm Chaser and running away.

The following can be farmed in Diviner's Ascent, leave from Elona Reach:

• Sand Drakes (Topaz Crest) - Approach these and stop just short of aggro range. Activate Serpent's Quickness and lay double sets of traps. Now, shoot off a Poison Arrow to each Drake and back up - let the Drakes run over your traps. They should be dead, if not, the degen will soon kill them. Sometimes Drakes are linked in aggro but are spread far apart - watch the radar carefully for any incoming Drakes. It can mess up your trapping badly if one or two don't hit the traps at the same time as the others. In this case it is best to pull a retreat or out-regen them with Troll Unguent and Poison Arrow.

• Rockshot Devourers (Bleached Carapace) - These are annoying, because they are also trappers and they carry Distracting Shot, but mostly because they tend to pop up at the most inopportunate moments. Follow a similar procedure as with Drakes, but keep a farther distance between you and the Devourers so as to avoid accidentally aggroing them prematurely. Once your traps are set, hit them with Poison Arrow and run slowly back to your traps. Devourers are less pull-friendly than Drakes so you'll have to give them more time. Do not try to set any more traps unless you are sure the Devourers are blind. It often takes two or more rounds of traps to kill Devourers, so you may wish to simply pick them off with hit-and-run Poison Arrows. A good counter-tactic to Distracting Shot is to start activating Troll Unguent and immediately cancel it by moving - the Devourers will use Distracting Shot and waste it. With a 10 second recharge, you have plenty of time to cast Troll Unguent in peace.

The following can be farmed in Skyward Reach, leave from Augury Rock:

• Hydra (Dessicated Hydra Claw) - They are very dangerous to farm with this build, but it can still be done. Lay traps safely away from them and then use Poison Arrow. They will always use Meteor or Fireball, so immediately use Storm Chaser and run away. They should still follow. Lead them over the traps - this will cause Crippled. Now it's just a matter of waiting for degen and dodging Fireballs. Don't try to take on more than two at once.

• Storm Kin (Shriveled Eye) - More dangerous than most but safer than Hydras. Follow the usual procedures, and you should be fine. Counter Conjure Phantasm with Troll Unguent.

The following can be farmed in The Scar, leave from Thirsty River:

• Dune Burrower (Dune Burrower Jaw) - These are stationary, so with the Flatbow or Longbow you can sometimes take them out without any opposition (try to get a height advantage). Otherwise, just hit them with Poison Arrow and move outside their range. They will try to counter with Healing Spring, just shoot them to disrupt it. There will always be Jade Scarab and/or Rock-Eater Scarab buried nearby, so it may be wise to take them out first.

• Jade Scarab and Rock-Eater Scarab (Jade Mandible) - These are more fragile than the other monsters and are often killed with the first sets of traps, so treat them like Sand Drakes. Remember that Jade Scarab carry Plague Touch, so try to not let them get within melee range. If they do, though, use Troll Unguent to counter the degeneration.

• Sand Giant (Massive Jawbone) - These have Plague Touch and are more sturdy than Jade Scarab, so they are a bit tough. They also knockdown with Giant Stomp occasionally. However they are fairly slow so you can generally use hit-and-run tactics after the first wave of traps. They also rely on self-caused Conditions and Plague Touch to transfer them - Crippled from Barbed Trap is very potent against them.

The following can be farmed in Prophet's Path, leave from Augury Rock:

• Desert Griffon (Iridescent Griffon Wing)- Requires a lot of patience, they use "I Will Survive!" to counter your Conditions. They are often more trouble than they are worth, but if you really need those Griffon Wings this build is a surefire way to get them...eventually. There are of course much more effective Tanking builds that have been made for Griffons especially, but this build can still do them.

• Minotaur (Minotaur Horn) - These are easy. Follow the same procedure as Drakes, but remember that Minotaurs often run in a patrol route rather than lazing around in one spot.

• Marrow Scarab and Scarab Nest Builder - for some reason neither of these drop any Collectible Drop, don't bother trying to kill them if you don't have to. They are hard to kill, anyways...Marrow Scarab will use Plague Touch and Virulence to devastating effect, and Scarab Nest Builder have Distracting Shot ready to interrupt Troll Unguent, as well as being Trappers themselves. In the event that comflict is unavoidable, lay down three or even four sets of traps to eliminate the Marrow Scarabs in one go. But stay out of Touch range!

• Salving Cactus (Spiny Seed) - While it can be hard to find them, they are very easy to farm. They don't move much and always cast Holy Wrath first - so start off with Dust Trap to blind them. After that you can finish them off any way you choose. Note, there are always one or two of these outside Heroes' Audience, beware the Sand Elementals though.

Notes on other creatures:

• Sand Wurm (Bleached Shell) - Good luck finding one, and good luck soloing it. Not recommended, but it could be done.

• Enchanted (Forgotten Seal) - They are immune to Poison and Bleeding and can't be farmed with this build.

• Sand Elemental (Encrusted Lodestone) - Like Enchanted, these are immune to Poison and Bleeding and thus can't be farmed. Besides that, they are very dangerous.

Counters

• Blind to some extent, though with Antidote Signet or another remedy (see Variants) this is no problem.
• Crippled, though no monsters in the Desert inflict this condition except the Barbed Traps of Scarab Nest Builders.
• Sudden spike damage, such as what occurs when facing Sand Elementals. Always use Storm Chaser and run away when in danger!

Variants

• Oath Shot, Spike Trap, or Trapper's Focus could be used instead of Poison Arrow for a purely Trapping build, though it plays a bit differently from the Posion Arrow one.
• For farming Minotaurs, Throw Dirt can be a viable skill to replace Toxicity. It will let you set more traps instead of having to run away.
• Antidote Signet, Mending Touch (R/Mo), and Remedy Signet (R/P) are also excellent skills to consider bringing along. In the event you step on a Dust Trap or Barbed Trap, these will let you counter them effectively. However, this is not too common an occurance, and generally bringing Toxicity will yield a better net effectiveness.
• Natural Stride is a viable alternative running skill to Storm Chaser if you're not facing enemies that use Hexes.
• Trapper's Speed is a good skill to consider bringing instead of Toxicity. Activate it just before Serpent's Quickness expires.

Totem Axe Farmer

This is a build designed for Totem Axe farming which utilizes the Ranger's superior speed skills to run past foes. When necessary, Apply Poison or Kindle Arrows skills are used to dish out large amounts of damage to quickly eliminate foes you must defeat.

Attributes and Skills

Ranger / Any	Attribute Rank
Expertise	9 + 1
Wilderness Survival	9+1
Marksmanship	12 + 3 + 1

Dodge

Zojun's Haste

Escape

Apply Poison

Kindle Arrows

Troll Unguent

Distracting Shot

Savage Shot

Escape can be replaced with Natural Stride, in case you either haven't capped Escape, or would prefer to use a different Elite. If you don't have access to Nightfall skills, Storm Chaser or Whirling Defense could also work.

Equipment

Armor - Any max set of armor will do. Druid's Armor is preferred due to the extra energy it provides. Most of the damage you will take while Totem Axe farming is a result of degeneration, which is not affected by armor.

Weapons - You MUST have a longbow or a flatbow. Bows with Poisonous and Fiery bow strings are handy but not necessary.

A shield or other off-hand item with a defensive bonus is recommended for the run.

Usage

Locations where Root Behemoths can be found in The Falls are marked yellow.

• Ventari's Refuge

Start in Ventari's Refuge. If you have brought a shield and one handed weapon equip them and head into Ettin's Back. Cycle the speed stances repeatedly. You will have a constant speed boost along with a high block bonus. Head south towards Reed Bog. Along the way you will encounter some fire traps and possible bleeding from Hunter's Shot. If you are hurt badly keep moving until you have broken aggro or built up about 3/4 aggro bubble distance. Use Troll Unguent and keep moving.

• Reed Bog

Procede as before constantly using your three run buffs to rush past foes. When you are speeding through the area, the Trolls and Spiders are not able to attack effectively. If you see a large group of foes ahead, find a safe place and wait until your faster run skills recharge so that you can use them again.

When you have reached the southern-most part of your run there is a fork where you can go left (west) or right (northwest). The path to the right is usually easier since there are fewer Trolls. The Scarabs that pop out of the ground are only a problem if they are able to pin you - they use melee attacks and can only really damage you with Vampiric Touch. There are a few Spiders near the entrance to The Falls but you should be able to breeze past them. Even if they hit you with Pin Down keep moving since the duration of the Crippled condition is short-lived.

• The Falls

Now you have to deal with massive amounts of Maguuma Spiders. Luckily they don't do much damage and all your stances provide a hefty block bonus against their ranged attacks. If you get into trouble because of Pin Down or simply being poisoned for long durations, use Troll Unguent, but maintain your stances at ALL times, even if not moving. The Spiders are a pain but they seldom chase you very far and often by the time they have descended from the trees and activated Apply Poison you are almost out of range. The Spiders' spawn pattern is relatively consistent in The Falls, so find an area where they are not present and take a break to recharge.

Once you are past the Spiders you are faced with Jungle Trolls. The path is sometimes narrow here and a couple of Trolls often block the way. In order to get some clear space on the path, activate dodge and run towards the Trolls, then back up slowly so they will follow you. This should separate them, creating some space so you can run past. If necessary, activate Zojun's Haste on the way. If the Trolls pin you, you are dead. Even with the 75% attack Block provided by Escape, their Power Attack is lethal.

Once past the Trolls you will face Jungle Skale. The Skale are not really much of a threat because your Troll Unguent will offset Rotting Flesh (Disease). However there is a tendency for one or two Skale to constantly follow you which can be a real pain - even fatal if they follow you right up to the Wind Riders. Make sure there aren't any Trolls around, activate Apply Poison as needed and using the tab key hit several skale with Poison; use "shift/tab" to go back to the first one and restart the loop. Groups of 5 will be dead in around a minute and a half or less. Use Troll Unguent whenever you go below 3/4 health and slowly work your way through the Skale. Make sure you take out the patrols, especially before you get to the Wind Riders because you have to run from them.

Once you find a Root Behemoth make sure you attack it from higher or equal elevation - higher is preferable. (Being at a higher elevation than your target increases the range of your arrows; at a lower elevation your range is shortened.) The longbow or flatbow lets you attack the Root Behemoth without aggroing the Life Pods that are hiding there. Use Apply Poison to cause health degeneration on the Root Behemoth.

Next, creep forward slowly to aggro the Life Pods. The Pods will spring up one at a time if you're lucky. Hit a Pod once and try to pull it about half an aggro bubble away. Attack it using your two interrupt skills to interrupt Orison of Healing. If your poison is still active use it on lone pods. When Apply Poison runs out or if it is already exhausted use Kindle Arrows to do a massive amount of damage to the pods. (If two or more are aggroed don't use poison because they will use Mend Condition and with their other heals you won't be able to kill them.) If you get 2 or 3 aggroed try to lure them down hill as one will follow close and the other 2 will sit back and shoot at you, try to put as much distance as you can from the shooting ones and kill the on thats closest this is so the others can't heal the one your attacking. Then one of the others will get close to you and you can repeat this process until they are dead.

Keep moving through the area, using Troll Unguent as needed and picking up loot after ALL Life Pods are dead. If you run in to pick up your Totem Axe before you have killed the Pods you'll often aggro 3 of them. It's tempting to just run in and get the Axe but you may lose the rest of the run because Life Pods will often follow long distances.

When you get to an area with Wind Riders your strategy changes. Wind Riders have an interrupt (Cry of Frustration) that can affect non-spell skills. They also have Conjure Phantasm. This means that you will be constantly losing health while fighting them and everything you do will be subject to interruption. The solution is to try to pull them away from their group and kill them one at a time. Use Apply Poison while well outside of aggro range. Then move close but not quite into bow range. Use Troll Unguent and then attack one and only one Wind Rider. Hit it a few times to get its health low then run away using your stances and let the poison kill it. After you have broken aggro, immediately use Troll Unguent to ensure that you don't die. Repeat this process until the group of Wind Riders is dead. This is by far the hardest part of this run and takes a lot of patience to figure out. Don't get frustrated if you die. You may either continue the run (Candy Canes help) or restart.

Counters

• Getting Pinned.

This is the one thing you do not want to happen. Trolls can kill you with relative ease as soon as you stop moving with speed. As discussed above, it is sometimes necessary to get them out of your path. Also, the Scarabs can pin you if you are not paying attention. They spring up out of the ground and if you use the keyboard to move past them you often get hung up on them. If you click to move you need to keep clicking to make the game update its path so you can go around the new Scarabs.

• Interrupts.

Troll Unguent is an incredibly useful skill because it cannot be removed once it has been activated (except by the user's death). The drawback is that it has a 3 second casting time which means it is easy to interrupt. Wind Riders are capable of interrupting it and are more than capable of killing you.

Variants

• If you don't have Escape you can substitute Storm Chaser. The drawback is that Storm Chaser doesn't include attack evasion so you will get Crippled more often when facing spiders.
• If you have a Monk as your second profession consider bringing Purge Conditions or Mending Touch instead of one of your interrupts. This allows you to remove a Crippled condition if necessary. Bring a skill that removes all Conditions because otherwise just Poison will be removed, and it will be reapplied almost instantly.
• If you have a bow with a Fiery bow string you can use Ignite Arrows instead of Kindle Arrows. The important difference between these two skills in this setting is that Kindle Arrows changes the arrow's base damage from Physical damage to Fire damage. Ignite Arrows keeps the base damage as Physical, but the Fiery bow string converts the base damage to fire damage.
• If you have Factions, drop Savage Shot for Needling Shot as the RBs will die much faster once they get below 50%.
• If you have Nightfall, drop Distracting Shot for Forked Arrow to kill the Life Pods faster with Kindle Arrows going. (Use Forked Arrow and Savage Shot quickly to spike a single Life Pod)
• If you have Warrior as secondary, you can add the remaining points into Tactics and drop Escape for "Shields Up!". And then you can drop Kindle Arrows for Burning Arrow to add -10 degeneration to your target, if used together with Apply Poison (providing your Elite skill slot is open).
• Natural Stride can be used instead of Escape in order to give you the ability to use another elite skill. Due to Natural Stride's much shorter duration and recharge, you'll need to use your stances in this order: Natural Stride > Dodge > Natural Stride > Zojun's Haste. This will allow you to keep your stances up consistently. (recommended for ALL who have all 3 campaigns)

Attributes and Skills

Ranger / Elementalist	Attribute Rank
Expertise	9 + 1
Wilderness Survival	9+1
Fire Magic	12

Phoenix

Flame Burst

Distracting Shot

Troll Unguent

Escape

Zojun's Haste

Dodge

Apply Poison

Equipment

• The Rotwing Recurve Bow is nice for the extra 5 energy.
• Alternatively, you can use a firestaff with +15 energy and swap distracting shot for Inferno or any other skill you might see fitting.

Usage

The only difference in this variant is the ability to kill the Life Pods faster. As they take double fire damage, they will be dead very quickly. Aggroing only 2 Life Pods is recommended, but 3 is possible. When you use your fire skills, use Phoenix first then Flame Burst. Make sure the life pods are as close to each other as possible.

Notes

This build was designed for Totem Axe farming but would also be useful in other running situations. The build is good for farming any item that requires running to get to and where your foes can be defeated with health degeneration (Poison).

The build is also useful for solo capping and in Alliance Battles. Several people using this build (one using Poison while others use Kindle) can capture points quickly and move on to the next very quickly as well.

Famine Farmer

The Famine Farmer is a Ranger build meant to easily solo many bosses in the Factions and Nightfall campaigns by using Famine combined with energy denial provided by Mesmer skills.

Attributes and skills

Ranger / Mesmer	Attribute Rank
Wilderness Survival	12 + 1 + 3
Inspiration Magic	10
Domination Magic	8

Famine

Mind Wrack

Spirit Shackles

Spirit of Failure

Empathy

Troll Unguent

Storm Chaser

Whirling Defense

Equipment

• Druid's Armor, with a Rune of Superior Wilderness Survival and a mask with +1 Wilderness Survival.
• For the weapon set I suggest both of the following:
  • A weapon that provides Activation Time and Recharge modifiers for Inspiration magic, such as the Handsmasher.
  • A flatbow or longbow on which the modifiers do not matter (this bow is merely to pull some bosses with).

Usage

• Run to the boss and pull him into a location where he and his mob cannot hit you with their attacks (Behind a tree, around a ledge, etc).
• Set Famine and put Spirit Shackles, Spirit of Failure, and Empathy on the boss. Refresh these as needed.
• If the boss can cast spells on you, keep Troll Unguent up during this time.
• Once the boss is out of energy due to Spirit Shackles begin to spam Mind Wrack on him in addition to the hexes.
• Most bosses fall very quickly after their energy is gone, in under a minute.

Counters

• Because of the nature of how the build works it is only effective against bosses that use ranged attacks and have poor spell damage.

Variants

• Replace Storm Chaser with Illusion of Haste and allocate some attributes into Illusion magic if the threat of being Crippled on the way to the boss is high, as in Arborstone (explorable)
• Drop Troll Unguent and/or Whirling Defense for more pressure if you know you won't need them for the run.
• Some replacements include:
  • Serpent's Quickness (spam Mind Wrack faster)
  • Wastrel's Worry (more spammable damage)
  • Backfire (for spell caster bosses)
  • Energy Tap (for quicker draining)
  • Diversion (for Zarnas Stonewrath, to disable his Stone Daggers)

Notes

This build has been used to farm the following bosses:

• Chkkr Thousand Tail

• Razortongue Frothspit (Pull his group to ledge infront of the Shrine and use Empathy to kill the Creeping Carps under the Priest's heals) (UPDATE: You can now merely kill his mob with henchmen then flag them off)

• Byzzr Wingmender

• Chkkr Brightclaw (Be watchful of the Undergrowth/Dragon Moss patrol that goes by the stairs every minute or so)

• Craw Stonereap

• Zarnas Stonewrath (He commonly has a huge energy pool and spams Stone Daggers instead of attacking with his wand. Because of this it is quicker to take Backfire on this run and kill him that way, noting that he will not kill himself through Backfire so you have to use Empathy on him when he is low. Diversion can also work, as Zarnas will resort to attacking when his Stone Daggers is disabled. His energy can be drained quite easily after.)

• Meril Stoneweaver

With the Advent of Henchman Flagging (killing the mobs around the boss, then sending them off your screen to solo the boss and get the drop) there are probably many more bosses that can potentially be farmed with this. So far the following have been tried and were successful:

• Chidehkir, Light of the Blind (Use Ignorance for faster kill, sometimes his energy regen is unnaturally high and Shackles isn't enough to keep him down)

• Chiossen, Soothing Breeze

• Chehbaba Roottripper

• Meynsang the Sadistic

• Nundak The Archer

• Terob Roundback

• Lieutenant Shagu